Chapter 116: A Cruel Escape (1)

[116] 18. A Cruel Escape (1)

My reunion with Amy was the worst.

“I have returned after completing my mission.”

“You don’t have to be so formal, Amy.”

‘They’ chuckled softly as they helped Amy to her feet.

“You’ve worked hard. Thanks to you, we were able to bring Rem here without any unnecessary conflict.”

“…I only did what I had to.”

Amy’s gloomy eyes turned towards me, who had been silent. Her gaze was so clouded that it was hard to read her true intentions.

And That bothered me a little.

Unfortunately, I’m not a saint or a virtuous person.

If anything, I’m closer to being petty, and my mental age is still below twelve.

In other words, I hadn’t forgotten that Amy lied to me.

Amy said she would let me meet Feya, and then she put me in a box. And when I came out of the box, I was in the Imperial Palace.

I don’t want to express it this way, but…

Honestly, I felt betrayed by Amy. It hurt even more because it was *Amy* who had lied.

“…Rem, I apologize once again for deceiving you.”

As if she had read my mind, ‘they’ placed a hand on my shoulder and spoke.

“We couldn’t give Feya, that monster, any chance to act. We couldn’t let you run away out of fear. More than anything…”

‘They’ looked at Amy. Amy simply lowered her gaze with an ashen face.

“Amy wouldn’t have felt comfortable deceiving you either, you know.”

Those words seeped into the hardened parts of my heart. I finally let out a sigh.

“From now on, Amy will do better too. Give her one more chance, just like you did with ‘us’. From now on, we’ll do our best to…”

“I understand.”

‘They’ smiled brightly. Then, after stroking my arm, ‘she’ turned her back on me.

“Now, I’ll give you two some time to talk. You probably need some alone time together.”

And then, with light steps, ‘she’ disappeared beyond the door.

Only the two of us left in the room.

Sunlight streamed in, illuminating the silence.

I was waiting for an apology,

and Amy… Well, I couldn’t tell what she was thinking at all.

Only her bitten lower lip hinted at her inner turmoil.

But, just as there is no eternal noise, there is also no eternal silence.

“…First, drink this.”

I felt somewhat perplexed as I received the potion Amy handed me. I didn’t know what it was, but it must have been expensive, given how elaborately it was decorated.

“What is it?”

“Drink it. I’ll explain after.”

It was a rather harsh tone for someone who had just shoved me in a box. But getting annoyed over something like this would be petty.

I downed the potion without a word.

“I drank it. Now explain… Ugh…!”

I swayed as my head spun. Amy caught me effortlessly.

“You’ll feel a little dizzy. Sit down.”

“…What the hell did you give me?”

I snapped without realizing it as I slumped into a chair. Amy sat opposite me and answered.

“A potion that severs the mental connection between you and ‘them’.”

It was a short sentence, but the meaning contained within couldn’t be summarized in a single phrase.

I asked, opening my eyes wide.

“Hold on, you mean…”

“I apologize for deceiving you. But it would have been nearly impossible for you to try and escape while still connected to them.”

My words were stuck in my throat, replaced by a silent echo.

“‘They’ won’t notice for a while. So, I’ll quickly tell you what needs to be said.”

Amy pulled out a round magic tool from her bosom.

“It’s a teleportation magic tool connected to the inside of the Great Divide. Go there, and you’ll be able to meet Feya. Meet her, get the relic, and…”

“I’m not going.”

It was a word I spat out as soon as my bewilderment subsided.

Amy’s body stiffened abruptly, then loosened like a rusty machine. She muttered, rubbing her face.

“So, you’ve made that choice in the end.”

“…It’s only for a year.”

Having said it aloud, it sounded pathetically like an excuse. I couldn’t help but add one more thing.

“It was because I died that everything became such a mess, wasn’t it? Even if it’s for a lifetime, I’d still understand, but just for a year, can’t I at least…”

“Let’s get one thing straight. This isn’t your fault.”

Amy furrowed her brow. It was an expression of irritation that I hadn’t seen since arriving here.

“This entire incident is a disaster brought on by our inability to handle our own guilt. In other words, it’s something that shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”

“Even so, should I just leave it be?”

At that moment, the anger I had been suppressing rushed to the tip of my tongue.

“Two of them have completely lost their physical bodies because of me? And in the end, they’ll die after a year?

And you’re no different. You’ve been openly talking about killing yourself after I leave. How can I just leave you like that?

Do I look that heartless to you? Do you all seem like people who mean nothing to me?

Yes, I know!

That you’re not the ones from my world! But what difference does that make? Parallel worlds or whatever, all I see are broken people!!

I! The people I wanted to protect so badly are broken!!”

It was like vomiting. Thoughtlessly spilling it out didn’t make me feel refreshed; instead, it made me feel dirty.

I grimaced and looked down.

“It’s just, just… for a year, isn’t it? Can’t I do at least that much?”

There are things that become clear only after you say them out loud.

Only then did I realize that I didn’t want to turn a blind eye to this world’s tragedy at all.

To hell with whether they’re the ones from my world or not.

No matter what anyone says, these were the ones who left at least some good things in my life. They’re the ones who kept me from hanging myself and dying right then and there.

The one-year period that ‘they’ told me about was a convenient excuse.

I intended to find a way to reverse this tragedy.

“… First, why don’t we just send Irene back. If Irene tells the ones in my world that I’ll stay here for just a year and then return…”

“Do you really think you can leave in a year?”

I don’t know since when, but Amy had hardened her expression.

“You’re looking for a way to return ‘them’ to normal, aren’t you?”

The words that hit the mark left me speechless. To my shocked silence, Amy replied in a cold tone.

“Even if you can’t restore them, you’ll try to find a way to keep ‘them’ alive as long as possible.”

“… Is that wrong?”

“Yes, whether you succeed or not.”

And Amy’s following words were cruel.

“Let’s say you haven’t found a solution by the end of the year. Will you be able to leave ‘them’ behind who are still dying, and depart right on the day the year is up?”

I couldn’t answer, but that silence was as good as an answer.

“”Right, you’ll try to find a solution until ‘they’ breathe their last. And you’ll try to postpone that moment as much as possible. Because that’s the kind of person you are.”

It’s a simple story.

There’s a girl with a terminal illness. The doctor says she has at most three months to live.

Of course, the family does everything they can to save her. They delay her death and slow the progression of the illness.

And so, three months becomes six months, and six months becomes a year.

That effort will likely continue until the moment the girl’s body can no longer endure.

“And the longer that period becomes, the more suspicious ‘they’ in your world will become. They might even think you’re trapped. They might think they need to rescue you right away.”

I felt my eyes widen as I finally understood what she was implying.

“Wait, are you saying…”

“We did it, so why couldn’t they?”

The transfer between worlds.

The memory of waking up in a pit on the prairie flashed before my eyes. Then, Parsley and Clara, who had to sacrifice their bodies for the price of the transfer, came to mind.

But I quickly erased those thoughts away and shook my head vigorously.

“Before something like that happens, no, if cure ‘them’ within a year, that’s all that matters. Rosalia is the Emperor, and Parsley is a brilliant mage. With their help, it won’t take long…”

“And do you think ‘they’ will let you go once they’re cured?”

I felt the back of my neck stiffen. I sincerely wanted to nod, but I just couldn’t.

Because ‘they’ had even connected their minds with mine to prevent my escape.

“…I can persuade them.”

“They won’t listen.”

“Then I’ll run away.”

“By then, ‘they’ will have already gotten rid of all the ways for you to return to your world.”

“…I’ll find a way somehow.”

“And what if you don’t? What if the people in your world decide to sacrifice their bodies and minds to get you back?”

Amy calmly refuted all my stubborn rebuttals. I couldn’t come up with any logic to counter her rebuttals.

Finally, I bit my lower lip and told a lie.

“Then I’ll give up on curing ‘them’. I’ll simply stay by their side for a year.”

“…If that were possible.”

Rosalia’s eyes turned to my prosthetics.

“You would have lived a happy life without getting hurt, without experiencing pain, with a perfectly healthy body.”

“Then what THE FUCK do you want me to do!”

I found myself jumping to my feet and shouting without realizing it.

“Go back.”

“I told you countless times that I can’t…!!”

I stopped mid-shout.

It was because of the small light that had formed in the corner of Amy’s eye. That light flowed down her cheek, gathered at the tip of her chin, and fell to the floor with a soft plop.

For the first time, Amy wore an expression not of gloom, but of sorrow.

“‘Our’ chance is already gone.”

Amy covered her face with her hands.

“Please, don’t make me waver anymore.”

Her voice trembled, as if suppressing a surge of emotions.

Suddenly, my legs gave way, and I collapsed back onto the chair. I covered my forehead with my hands and lowered my head.

Pathetically, I felt tears welling up.

Even more pathetically, I couldn’t stop them, and my vision blurred.

“Why are you all… doing this for someone like me…?”

I tried to speak without trembling, but I couldn’t. Squeezing my fists, I struggled to continue speaking.

“You… Parsley… Clara… Even the Captain…

Couldn’t you all just, just, forget and live on without me…? Why couldn’t you just say, ‘Oh, he’s dead,’ and move on with your life?

Why are you suffering so much because of someone like me?

Just because of me, why are you all…”

Finally, my voice was drowned in tears.

I didn’t ask the questions expecting an answer, I bowed my head and tried hard to swallow my tears.

It was the worst moment of my 25 years of life.

Unable to decide on anything, throwing tantrums, and in the end, ended up crying like a baby in front of my older sister whom I’m meeting again after 18 years.

Idiot, that was the only word that came to mind.

“…Do you remember when we were little, at the orphanage?”

A tone that felt somewhat unfamiliar because it had been so long.

I unconsciously raised my head to look at Amy. She was still covering her face with her hands.

“Every mealtime, the director would hand out those tasteless loaves of bread. They were so poorly made that their sizes were all different. And you always ended up with the smallest one.”

I remember.

When I was young, I was a fool and a coward, and being small in stature, I was always intimidated and pushed around in everything.

Getting the smallest piece of bread was also a result of that.

The director would just throw us a sack full of bread. And after a chaotic scramble, all I could get my hands on were crumbs or tiny pieces.

It was Amy who always shared her bread with me back then.

“And you’d always say that it was because you were timid and weak.”

Because that was the truth.

“But do you remember this too? When I caught a cold.”

A faint laughter escaped from behind her covered face.

“I was lying still because I was in so much pain, and I was quietly crying because I was scared I might die. Then you suddenly came to me and handed me some herbs. When I asked you where you got them, you said with a bruised face.”

I already knew what she was going to say next.

““That I stole them from the herbalist.””

Amy slowly lowered her hands from her face.

A nostalgic smile that made a corner of my heart ache filled my vision.

“It doesn’t make sense, does it? A boy bold enough to rob a herbalist, saying he ate the smallest bread and crumbs because he was timid.”

Amy gave a bitter smile.

“You were always like that, Rem.

To me, you were always a shining jewel, but you acted as if the mud was your rightful place, throwing yourself into it.

Calling yourself a stone, you never hesitated to scratch and bruise yourself. You hid yourself in the shadows where even the sunlight couldn’t reach.

And then, so selfishly, only when sacrificing yourself for someone else did you come out into the light.”

Amy’s eyes welled up with light again. It flowed down, drawing a sad path on her face.

“Rem, we couldn’t forget about you because you’re unforgettable.

Because you’re a shining person, one of a kind in this world, a person like a star we could never meet again.

That’s why we ended up doing something this foolish.”

For a moment, I couldn’t think of anything.

As if Amy’s words had paralyzed my brain, thoughts just wouldn’t connect.

And when I finally managed to think of something to say,

[Amy!!!]

It seemed we were no longer in a situation where we could continue our conversation.

‘Their’ scream echoed throughout the entire Imperial Palace.

“Looks like we’ve used too much time.”

Amy smiled bitterly and got up.

She approached me, who was still frozen in place, and raised her hand.

“Rem, my precious little brother…”

Amy’s hand touched my chest like lightning. When I looked down, bewildered, a magic tool had already been placed on my chest.

Amy smiled faintly.

“Sister, wait a mom…”

“Please, don’t forgive me.”

And then, a blue light enveloped everything.

***

Inside a moss-covered underground prison.

Irene stepped over the corpse of a guard with a hole in his throat. She didn’t forget to check the inside of each cell as she walked.

Then, finally, she stopped before one cell.

Irene looked at Amy inside the cell for a moment before giving a short comment.

“You look terrible.”

It was a brutally concise expression.

The anger of ‘them’, who had their precious thing taken away right before their eyes, was by no means light. They had inflicted the greatest pain possible on Amy, within the limits of what was reversible.

Amy, with her skin peeled off, whispered faintly.

“The… relic…?”

Irene opened her hand to show.

Two ancient relics that would return Irene and Rem to their original world.

Alain’s pocket watch and the Dragon King’s Essence were dangling from her fingers.

“Just as you said, they were so focused on finding Oppa. I had no idea it would be this easy to rob the Imperial vault.”

“Then… now…”

Amy puts her trembling hand on her own chest.

“Pro… mise…”

There was only one promise she had made with Amy.

“You mean the one about taking out your heart?”

Amy nodded slowly.

“The Dragon King’s… Essence… can only be used… if a heart is… offered…”

“…I see.”

Irene bent the iron bars of the cell and stepped inside. She approached Amy with the dagger Amy had given her.

Then, suddenly, she stopped right in front of her.

“Before that, I have one question.”

Amy nodded slowly.

Irene crouched in front of Amy and asked.

“Why did you go this far?”

Irene’s face was expressionless. It was an expression as if a hard mask had been built up, covering her entire face.

“Whether you die this way or that way, you were going to die anyway. It’s just a matter of whether it’s by your own hand or someone else’s.

So why did you have to choose this death, enduring such humiliation?”

Hearing those words, Amy closed her eyes. Because of that, Irene thought for a moment that she had finally breathed her last.

But not long after, Amy slowly opened her mouth.

“Ho…pe…”

“Hope?”

“The me… in your… world… might… perhaps… be forgiven… So…”

“But you tell him not to forgive you?”

Amy’s eyes widened. But only for a moment, her eyes soon curved.

She was smiling.

“You were… eavesdropping…”

“I also set up a few safety measures, because I couldn’t completely trust you.”

“What terrible… habit…”

Irene found herself smiling without realizing it.

“So, why did you say that?”

“Well…”

Amy curved her eyes once more. However, if there was a difference from just now, it was the small light that had formed in the corner of her eye.

That light flowed down her red cheeks and then, falling to the ground, shattered with a clear sound.

“Jea… lou… sy… maybe…”

Irene was silent.

The playfulness and mischievousness had long since vanished from her face.

Jealousy is proof of lingering affection.

What kind of courage is required to let someone go, despite still having feelings for them.

Moreover, what kind of will is required to endure the pain of having your skin peeled off for the sake of a goodbye.

Irene couldn’t know, and to be honest, she couldn’t understand her.

But she could respect it.

“I’ll make one promise.”

Amy’s eyes turn to Irene.

Irene looked at Amy with firm eyes and said.

“Oppa will be happy. And oppa won’t get hurt anymore.”

Amy stared at Irene for a moment before slowly closing her eyes. As if those words were enough.

Irene pulled out the dagger.

“Thank you, Amy.”

*Sink-*

The sound of flesh tearing and blood splattering.

The blood that splattered on Irene’s face flowed down, drawing grotesque patterns.

“And I’m sorry, Amy.”

The blood flowing down like a spider web draws a shape more grotesque than anything else. Irene’s face, decorated with blood, looked more like a monster than a human’s.

Irene muttered as she extracted Amy’s heart.

“The Amy in our world needs to die before she’s forgiven.”